Hydrodynamics of linked sphere model swimmers.

We describe in detail the hydrodynamics of a simple model of linked sphere swimmers. We calculate the asymptotic form of both the time averaged flow field generated by a single swimmer and the interactions between swimmers in a dilute suspension, showing how each depends on the parameters describing...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alexander, G, Pooley, C, Yeomans, J
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2009
Description
Summary:We describe in detail the hydrodynamics of a simple model of linked sphere swimmers. We calculate the asymptotic form of both the time averaged flow field generated by a single swimmer and the interactions between swimmers in a dilute suspension, showing how each depends on the parameters describing the swimmer and its swimming stroke. We emphasize the importance of time reversal symmetry in determining the far field flow around a swimmer and show that the interactions between swimmers are highly dependent on the relative phase of their swimming strokes.